The present disclosure relates generally to electrical machines, and more particularly to thermal management in electrical machines.
Higher temperatures in electrical machines can be a source of performance degradation, decrease in power density, and reduction in reliability for the machine. Thermal “hot spots” may be a specific manifestation of such an issue. Within the components of the electrical machines, for example, a stator and a rotor, the conductors within the slots and/or poles are often among the hottest portions of the electrical machines due to large ohmic losses. For example, the majority of ohmic losses in a stator, such as copper losses, are concentrated in the stator slots due to generation of heat by the winding conductors located in the slots.
Heat generated due to ohmic losses within the components need to be transmitted through insulation layers (e.g., ground wall, phase separators, conductor coating, VPI resin, and the like). The extraction of heat from such areas may not be effective due to the poor thermal conductivity of the various insulation layers.
Accordingly, there is a need for an enhanced thermal management in electrical machines.